In a disturbing incident that has assumed the dimension of a language conflict, a 19-year-old student allegedly committed suicide after he was beaten up in a local train by a gang for reportedly speaking in Marathi.
The assault on Arnav Laxman Khaire, a first-year science student at Kelkar College at Mulund in north-east Mumbai, took place around 9 am on Tuesday between Kalyan and Thane railway stations on board a crowded suburban Ambarnath-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) local train.
Quoting a complaint lodged by the boy’s father, Laxman Khaire, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kalyanji Gete — who is investigating the case — said, “Inside the crowded train, my son Arnav asked a passenger to move a little forward in Hindi. The agitated passenger asked Arnav: ‘Don’t you know Marathi? Are you ashamed to speak in Marathi?’” Arnav chose to keep quiet. Upset by Arnav’s silence, “The passenger, along with about five other fellow passengers, brutally assaulted Arnav, punching him in the stomach and other parts of his body,” Sr Geet stated in his complaint.
After the assault, Arnav -- who was on his way to his college at Mulund – got off at Thane station instead of going further to Mulund. Little did he know, he boarded another train to Mulund, where he got down and went to his college. However, as he was reeling under considerable stress after the assault, he did not attend college for the full day. He returned home earlier.
“Arnav had informed his father about the incident on his mobile phone, and the father sensed immense fear and tension in his voice. When Laxman Khaire returned home from work around 7 pm on Tuesday, he found the door closed. With the help of neighbours, the door was opened, and Arnav was found to have hanged himself with a blanket from the ceiling,” ACP Gete said.
Arnav was rushed to Rukminibai Hospital at Kalyan, where doctors declared him dead.
Incidentally, Arnav — a Maharashtrian himself— reportedly paid a price for speaking in Marathi. In his complaint lodged at Kolsewadi police station, Sr Khaire urged the police to locate the gang responsible for the mental trauma that his son suffered after the assault. “Arnav has alleged that his son committed suicide due to the mental stress caused by the beating he received from a local gang for not speaking Marathi,” ACP Gete said.
“We have registered the father’s complaint and initiated a proper investigation to identify and apprehend the accused responsible for this shocking and deeply distressing incident. Justice for Arnav is our priority,” the police officer said.
The police have for now registered a case of “accidental death” and sent the body for post-mortem. “We are looking out for the accused persons who had assaulted Arnav. We have not made any arrests so far,” the investigating officer said.